Laboratory of Pathogens and Host Immunity

Mini Bio – Ana Rita Gomes

POSITION

CNRS Researcher (CRCN), PhD, HDR

CONTACT

E-mail: ana-rita.batista-gomes[at]umontpellier.fr

Phone: +33 (0)4 67 14 36 87

BIOGRAPHY

Initially trained as a microbiologist, I enrolled in the PhD programme at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, in Cambridge (UK), to study malaria functional genetics in 2010. During this period, I established technology (barseq) that opened malaria research to large-scale reverse genetic screening. As a postdoc, we further developed this technology and performed the first genome scale essentiality screen in a malaria parasite. We showed that malaria parasites have the highest proportion of essential genes ever reported – likely a consequence of genomic reductions during the evolution of parasitism. Whilst at the Sanger, I also participated in the development of Plasmodium single cell transcriptomics. Afterwards, in 2016, I joined the LSHTM in London, and conducted a genomic epidemiological surveillance project to assess the prevalence of Zika and dengue viruses, in the archipelago of Cape Verde.

Shortly after I moved to Montpellier and was recruited by the CNRS in Dec 2018.

My group at LPHI is currently funded by the initiative CNRS|80Prime and by a ERC starting grant (JANUS 2024-2029). Our goals are to explore cell fate decisions and cell cycle regulation in malaria parasites. 

PUBLICATIONS

Castellano CM, Lacroix L, Mathis E, Prorok P, Hennion M, Lopez-Rubio JJ, Mechali, M, Gomes AR. (2024) The genetic landscape of origins of replication in P. falciparum. Nucleic Acids Res. 52(2):660-676 10.1093/nar/gkad1103

Ukegbu CV, Gomes AR, Giorgalli M, Campos M, Bailey AJ, Besson TRB, Billker O, Vlachou D, Christophides GK (2023) Identification of genes required for Plasmodium gametocyte-to-sporozoite development in the mosquito vector. Cell Host Microbe 31:1539-1551.e6. doi:10.1016/j.chom.2023.08.010

Gomes AR, Marin-Menendez A, Adjalley S, Bardy C, Cassan C, Lee M, et al (2022) A transcriptional switch controls sex determination in Plasmodium falciparum. Nature 612:528-533. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05509-z

Ward D, Gomes AR, Tetteh K, Sepulveda N, Gomez LF, Campino S, Clark TG (2022) Sero-epidemiological study of arbovirus infection following the 2015–2016 Zika virus outbreak in Cabo Verde. Sci Rep 12:11719. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-16115-4

Gurung P, Gomes AR, Martins RM, Juranek SA, Alberti P, Mbang‐Benet D, et al (2021)  PfGBP2 is a novel G‐quadruplex binding protein in Plasmodium falciparum. Cell Microbiol 23:e13303. doi:10.1111/cmi.13303

Campos M, Ward D, Morales RF, Gomes AR, Silva K, Sepúlveda N, et al (2020) Surveillance of Aedes aegypti populations in the city of Praia, Cape Verde: Zika virus infection, insecticide resistance and genetic diversity. Parasit Vectors 13:481. doi:10.1186/s13071-020-04356-z

Gazanion E, Lacroix L, Alberti P, Gurung P, Wein S, Mergny JL, Gomes AR* and Lopez-Rubio JJ* (2020) Genome wide distribution of G-quadruplexes and their impact on gene expression in malaria parasites. PLoS Genet 16:e1008917. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1008917. *Co-senior authorship

Benavente ED, Gomes AR, Silva JR, Grigg MJ, Walker H, Barber B, William T, Yeo TW, Sessions PF, Ramaprasad A, Ibrahim A, Charleston J, …, Campino SG, Clark T (2019) Whole genome sequencing of amplified Plasmodium knowlesi DNA from unprocessed blood reveals genomic exchange events between Malaysian Peninsular and Borneo subpopulations. Sci Rep 9(1):9873. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-46398-z

He Y, Campino SG, Benavente ED, Warhurst D, Beshir K, Lubis I, Gomes AR, Feng J, Jiazhi W, Sun X, Huang F, Tang L, Sutherland C, Clark T (2019) Artemisinin resistance-associated markers in Plasmodium falciparum parasites from the China-Myanmar border: predicted structural stability of K13 propeller variants detected in a low-prevalence area. PLoS One 14:e0213686 . doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0213686

Fang H*, Gomes AR*, Klages N*, Pino P, Maco B, Walker EM, Zenonos Z, Angrisano F, Baum J, Doerig C, Baker D, Billker O, Brochet M (2018) Epistasis studies reveal redundancy among calcium-dependent protein kinases in motility and invasion of malaria parasites. Nat Commun 9:4248. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-06733-w. *Co-first authorship

Reid AJ*, Talman AM*, Bennett HM*, Gomes AR, Sanders MJ, Illingworth CJR, Billker O, Berriman M, Lawniczak MKN (2018) Single-cell RNA-seq reveals hidden transcriptional variation in malaria parasites. eLife 7:e33105. doi:10.7554/eLife.33105

Gomes AR, Ravenhall M, Benavente ED, Talman A, Sutherland C, Roper C, Clark TG, Campino S (2017) Genetic diversity of next generation antimalarial targets: A baseline for drug resistance surveillance programmes. Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist 7:174-180. doi:10.1016/j.ijpddr.2017.03.001

Mancio-Silva L, Slavic K, Grilo Ruivo MT, Grosso AR, Modrzynska KK, Vera IM, Sales-Dias J, Gomes AR, MacPherson CR, Crozet P, Adamo M, Baena-Gonzalez E, Tewari R, Llinás M, Billker O, Mota MM (2017) Nutrient sensing modulates malaria parasite virulence. Nature 547:213-216. doi:10.1038/nature2300

Modrzynska K, Pfander C, Chappell L, Yu L, Suarez C, Dundas K, Gomes AR, Goulding D, Rayner JC, Choudhary J, Billker O (2017) A Knockout Screen of ApiAP2 Genes Reveals Networks of Interacting Transcriptional Regulators Controlling the Plasmodium Life Cycle. Cell Host Microbe 21:11-22. doi:10.1016/j.chom.2016.12.003

Dombrowski JG, Souza RM, Curry J, Hinton L, Silva NRM, Grignard L, Gonçalves LA, Gomes AR, Epiphanio S, Drakeley C, Huggett J, Clark TG, Campino S, Marinho CRF (2017) G6PD deficiency alleles in a malaria-endemic region in the Western Brazilian Amazon. Malar J 16:253. doi:10.1186/s12936-017-1889-6

Bushell E*, Gomes AR*, Sanderson T*, Anar B, Girling G, Herd C, Metcalf T, Modrzynska K, Schwach F, Martin RE, Mather MW, McFadden GI, Parts L, Rutledge GG, Vaidya AB, Wengelnik K, Rayner JC, Billker O (2017) Functional Profiling of a Plasmodium Genome Reveals an Abundance of Essential Genes. Cell 170, 260-272 e268. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2017.06.030. *Co-first authorship

Gomes AR, Talman AM (2016) Commitment issues in Plasmodium. Nat Rev Microbiol 14(1):4. doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2015.9

Gomes AR, Bushell E, Schwach F, Girling G, Anar B, Quail MA, Herd C, Pfander C, Modrzynska K, Rayner JC, Billker O (2015) A genome-scale vector resource enables high-throughput reverse genetic screening in a malaria parasite. Cell Host Microbe 17:404-13. doi:10.1016/j.chom.2015.01.014

Schwach F*, Bushell E*, Gomes AR, Anar B, Girling G, Herd C, Rayner JC, Billker O (2015) PlasmoGEM, a database supporting a community resource for large-scale experimental genetics in malaria parasites. Nucleic Acids Res 43: D1176-82. doi:10.1093/nar/gku1143

Brochet M, Collins MO, Smith TK, Thompson E, Sebastian S, Volkmann K, Schwach F, Chappell L, Gomes AR, Berriman M, Rayner JC, Baker DA, Choudhary J, Billker O (2014) Phosphoinositide metabolism links cGMP-dependent protein kinase G to essential Ca²⁺ signals at key decision points in the life cycle of malaria parasites. PLoS Biol 12:e1001806. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001806

Suarez C, Volkmann K, Gomes AR, Billker O, Blackman MJ (2013) The malarial serine protease SUB1 plays an essential role in parasite liver stage development. PLoS Pathog 9:e1003811. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1003811

Gomes-Santos CS, Braks J, Prudêncio M, Carret C, Gomes AR, Pain A, Feltwell T, Khan S, Waters A, Janse C, Mair GR, Mota MM (2011) Transition of Plasmodium sporozoites into liver stage-like forms is regulated by the RNA binding protein Pumilio. PLoS Pathog 7:e1002046. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002046